Combined sill and threshold



Dec. 19, 1961 Filed March 4, 1959 R. C. BELTZ ETAL COMBINED SILL ANDTHRESHOLD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Robert 6. Bel/z Webs/er 6. Wile Jr.

1N VEN TORS Mm BY w 3M4,

1961 R. c. BELTZ ETAL 3,013,314

COMBINED SILL AND THRESHOLD Filed March 4, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Robert6. Half: Webster 6. W178), Jr.

INVENTORS Unites.

3,813,314 Patented Dec. 19, 1951 3,013,314 I H COMBINED SILLANDTHRESHOLD Robert C. Beltz, 4227Boston Ave., La Crescenta, Calif, andWebster G. Wiley, In, 3811 Lockerbie Court, Glendale, Calif.

Filed Mar. 4, I959, Ser. No. 797,174 4 Qlaims. (Cl. 2064) This inventionrelates to building construction equipment and more particularly to acombined door sill and thtreshold.

The combined door sill and threshold in accordance with this inventioncombines into one unit features of a door sill and threshold. It may beused with conventional construction and nonconventional construction ofdoor frames and openings, and the actual fabrication of the combinedsill and threshold is left within the prerogative of the manufacturer.For example, it may be extruded, cast, pressed, etc.

It is within the contemplation of the invention to provide a selectionof rug caps for additional height when carpeting adds to the finishedfloor height. The rug caps may be of any height for instance, the rugcap for a carpet plus a pad is higher than the rug cap used when acarpet alone is to be applied to the floor. If no carpet is to beinstalled, the rug cap is omitted.

Some of the features of the invention are that the combined thresholdand sill is in a single unit designed for common use with dry wall orplaster interior or any other interior or exterior wall construction. Iteliminates all need to modify or cut the subfloor and/ or floor joistsprior to installation. A few screws is all that are necessary to applyand fasten vthe combined sill and threshold in place. Since metalconstruction is suggested, excellent protection against environmentalconditions accrue. The combined sill and threshold may be used with aslab floor of concrete or wood subfloor with equal facility. Aninterlocking bead provides a weather seal to the underside of the door.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a practicalcombined sill and threshold which is easily installed and which servesits intended purpose very well, furnishing a very neat combinedthreshold and sill, regardless of the floor and wall construction usedin the building.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combined threshold andsill which may be used on existing buildings, providing a replacementpart, or which may be used equally as well as original equipment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combined threshold andsill with an interlocking device to raise the sill to an effectiveheight that will compensate for carpeting, carpeting with pad or tocompensate for other unexpected emergencies that may arise wherein it isdesired to have a raised sill or for any other purpose.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, whereinline numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the combined threshold andsill, the bead being removed.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the bead to be used with the combinedthreshold and sill in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of one typical installation.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a rug cap.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the rug cap of FIGURE 4in use.

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of another rug cap.

States; Patent Gfiee 2 FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showingthe rug cap in use.

In the accompanying drawings FIGURES 3, 5 and 7 show typicalinstallations of the combined threshold and sill. FIGURE 3 illustrates acombined threshold and sill used without a rug cap. FIGURE 5 shows acombined threshold and sill used with a shallow rug cap, while FIGURE 7shows the threshold and sill used with a deep rug cap. At the outset, itis to be clearly understood that the building structure shownprincipally in FIGURE 3 is diagrammatic only and in no way limits theuse of the combined threshold and sill 10 to such a construction. Toshow one environment of the invention, the drawings illustrate a floorjoist 12 on which there is subfloor 14 and finished floor 16. Door 18 ishingedly mounted above the subfloor 14, and the interior trim 20 is onthe inside of the door around the door frame. Plaster 22 is shown onplasterboard 24, and the plaster board is nailed to stud 26 whose outerface receives the outer finished wall, for example stucco 28 onsheathing, lath, etc. Step 39 is on the outside of the building.Although this illustration shows one type of construction, there are somany other types of construction that it is impractical and impossibleto mention all of them, and therefore as indicated previously, theillustration is merely diagrammatic.

Combined threshold and sill 10 is made of a plate 32 having a pluralityof short legs 34, 36, 38 and 40 depending from its lower surface. Theplate, when set, is angled slightly downwardly and outwardly of thebuilding to shed water. The upper surface of plate 32 is flat, althoughanti-skid devices may be used such as a plurality of regularly spacedscore marks, beads, rubs 42 or the like. Front leg 34 is slightly longerthan the next adjacent leg 36 so that in one particular installation(FIGURES 3, 5 and 7) leg 34 may rest on the top surface of step 30.Other installations, where the step does not have its upper surfaceconveniently located, will not rely on the upper surface of step 30 forsupport of the combined threshold and sill. The threshold and sill maybe terminated at the outer edge of the subfloor 14 or at the outer edgeof the finished coat of stucco or the corresponding parts in other typesof building constructions. Legs 36, 38 and 40 seat .on the subfloor 14.

An upwardly opening and forwardly and downwardly slanted panel 48 is setbelow the general plane of the upper surface of plate 32. There is anupwardly opening slot 50 in panel 32 adjacent to leg 40, and panel 48 isset therebelow. A pair of inwardly extending flanges 54 and 56 parallelto the surface of panel 48 are above panel 48 and they cooperate withthe panel 48 to form confronting elongate pockets 60 and 62 with inwhich the longitudinal edges 64 and 66 of bead 68 are engaged.

Bead 68 is preferably of an elastomeric substance, for instance vinylplastic or rubber, and is made of a fiat bottom wall 70 together with anarched upper wall 72 whose ends are spaced from edges 64 and 66. Asshown in FIGURE 3 bead 68 is seated in the upwardly open ing recess 74that is formed by panel 48, pockets 60 and 62 and the flanges 54 and 56,with the edges 64 and 66 engaged in pockets 60 and 62. This holds thebead immovably in place, and the arched part 42 contacts the bottomsurface of door 18 to form a weather seal.

In installation, it is only necessary to set the plate 32 in place andfasten it down to the subfloor 14 by a few screws which pass throughpreformed holes 82 in the panel 48.

In FIGURE 5 the construction is the same and therefore the samereference numerals are used. The only difference between theorganization in FIGURE 5 and that of FIGURE 3 is the inclusion of rugcap 84. The rug cap has an upwardly opening recess 86 which is identicalin all respects to the recess 74- and is formed in essentially the sameway. The rug cap has a bottom panel 88 vertically lowered from the uppersurface of a pair of flanges 90 and 92 which correspond in constructionand function to the flanges 54 and 56. A pair of short elongate legs 94and 96, constructed of lengthwise ribs, as are legs 34, 36, 38 and 40,are spaced so that they seat within the recess 74, contacting theconfronting edges of flanges 54 and 56 thereby interlocking therewith.The recess 86 accommodates the bead 68, just as recess 74 wouldaccommodate the same head if the rug cap 84 were omitted. However, notethat when the rug cap 84 is used, the effective height of the bead israised to accommodate the additional height of the floor formed bycarpeting 98.

FIGURES 6 and 7 show that rug cap 100 may be substituted for rug cap 8The rug cap 106 is the same as rug cap 84 except legs 10-2 and 104 arehigher than legs 94 and 96. They are spaced apart slightly farther sothat leg 102 seats upon flange 4 while leg 104 engages the inner edge offlange 55 and seats on the upper surface of panel 48. A short ramp 106extends from flange 108 of rug cap 100 and is sloped downwardly towardthe outer edge of plate 32. If found desirable a plurality of antislipdevices, such as ribs 110 may be formed integral with the outer surfaceof ramp 106. The purpose of rug cap 100 is to raise the effective heightof bead 72 to compensate for the additional thickness provided bycarpeting 112 and pad 114.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A combined sill and threshold comprising in combination a plateprovided with an elongated upwardly opening recess having undercutlongitudinal side edges, an elongated rug cap also provided with anelongated upwardly opening recess having undercut longitudinal sideedges, a pair of spaced parallel and longitudinally extending legsprovided at the underside of said rug cap, said legs projectingdownwardly from the underside of the rug cap and engaging said platewhen the rug cap is superposed on the latter, at least one of said legsbeing seated in said recess, a fastening element extending through saidrug cap and through said plate to secure the same together, and anelongated head of flexible material positioned in the recess of said rugcap, said bead including a pair of longitudinally extending flangesseated in the undercut longitudinal side edges of the rug cap whereby toretain the head in position.

2. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein the legs of said rug cap areof a lesser height than the depth of the recess in said plate wherebythe underside of the rug cap rests upon the upper surface of the plate.

3. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein the legs of said rug cap areof a greater height than the depth of the recess in said plate wherebythe underside of the rug cap is spaced above the upper surface of theplate, together with a sloping ramp provided at one longitudinal sideedge of the rug cap and extending downwardly to the upper surface ofsaid plate to engage the same at a point spaced away from the recess inthe plate.

4. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein the recess in said plate isof the same dimensions as the recess in said rug cap, whereby the recessin the plate may selectively receive said head in substitution for saidrug cap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,858,583 McEvoy et al Nov. 4, 1958 2,872,714 Odegaard et al Feb. 10,1959 2,903,757 Loehr Sept. 15, 1959

